Four Goals From Jesús Ferreira Lift U.S. Men’s National Team To 5-0 Win Over Grenada In Concacaf Nations League Opener

AUSTIN, Texas (June 10, 2022) – Jesús Ferreira’s four goals propelled the U.S. Men’s National Team to a 5-0 rout of Grenada in front of a sold-out crowd of 20,500 at Q2 Stadium as the USA began defense of its Concacaf Nations League title. The 21-year Ferreira scored one before the break and added a second-half hat trick, while his FC Dallas teammate Paul Arriola also scored in the second half to cap the USMNT’s final home game before the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

 

Ferreira’s four goals tie a USMNT record for most goals in a game, the fifth time the mark has been achieved and the first since Landon Donovan scored four against Cuba in 2003. With his 10th international goal, Arriola becomes the 26th USMNT player to reach double-digit goals.

 

The win extends the USMNT’s unbeaten streak on U.S. soil to 26 straight games, tying the team’s record set from 2013-2015. After recording its third straight shutout of this June window, the USA will close out this four-game stretch when it visits El Salvador on Tuesday, June 14 (10 p.m. ET; FS1, Univision, TUDN) for its second CNL match in Group A.

 

Head coach Gregg Berhalter made eight changes from the team that played Uruguay to a scoreless draw on Sunday, with defender Aaron Long, midfielder Weston McKennie and forward Jesús Ferreira as the holdovers. While the group had complete control throughout the match, it took some time for everyone to click.

 

The U.S. dominated possession in the opening half by a 69-31 percent margin and outshot Grenada 12-0. While the team found success advancing down each wing, the final pass and shots often lacked precision. On the flip side, the team had success getting target forward Ferreira opportunities to face the goal, and the breakthrough finally came two minutes before the halftime whistle as the FC Dallas forward recovered a cleared ball and tucked away the opening goal to the far side netting.

 

The floodgates then opened. After missing a solid chance on a header early in the second half, Ferriera scored twice two minutes apart - off assists from Arriola and midfielder Kellyn Acosta, respectively - to complete his hat trick. Arriola added the USA’s fourth just six minutes later when he finished a nice run and pass from midfielder Luca de la Torre, who was involved on a number of attacking sequences on the night.

 

With the backline untested, Ferreira added his fourth with 12 minutes to go when he put away a short pass from forward Brenden Aaronson into an empty net.

 

GOAL SCORING RUNDOWN

 

USA - Jesús Ferreira (unassisted), 43rd minute: Ferreira’s opening goal will go down unassisted, but two balls from Reggie Cannon and Paul Arriola were key. Cannon sent a ball forward into a dangerous spot that a Grenada defender attempted to clear, but the ball fell to Arriola just outside the box. The winger advanced forward, brought two players with him and then sent a short cross towards the middle of the box. The ball hit a defender but fell to the feet of Ferreira, who set it up with his left and placed a shot from eight yards out to the far side net for his fourth career international goal. USA 1, GRN 0

 

USA - Jesus Ferriera (Paul Arriola), 54th minute: The play began on the other side of midfield with Luca de la Torre playing a low ball to Arriola down the middle. Arriola created with a touch to his left and saw Ferreira make his run with a man on his shoulder, and slipped the ball through down the middle. Ferreira took one touch forward and shot across to far side net for his second goal of the game. USA 2, GRN 0

 

USA - Jesus Ferriera (Kellyn Acosta), 56th minute: Minutes later, Acosta lined up for a corner from the right side. With the near side of the box open, Acosta played a driven ball low towards the top of the area that Ferreira hit first time into the top near corner to complete his hat trick. USA 3, GRN 0

 

USA - Paul Arriola (Luca de la Torre), 62nd minute: This time, Luca de la Torre took a ball from Acosta past midfield and decisively advanced forward, cutting to his left as he approached the box. Arriola, coming down the left channel, made the diagonal run into the box and de la Torre found him with a simple, well-placed ball. Arriola shielded his mark with his right shoulder and let the ball come across to his left before shooting from a tight, close angle for his 10th career goal. USA 4, GRN 0

 

USA - Jesus Ferriera (Brenden Aaronson), 78th minute: The U.S. didn’t let up despite having complete control of the game. Arriola recovered a cleared ball on the left side and played it quickly to Aaronson, who drew a defender and goalkeeper towards him before slipping the ball to the middle where Ferreira finished from five yards out into an empty net to complete the rout. USA 5, GRN 0

 

 

Additional Notes:

• Jesús Ferreira became the fifth player in USMNT history to score four goals in a match. At 21 years, 168 days he is also the sixth youngest USMNT player to record a hat trick, taking his USMNT scoring tally to seven goals in 12 matches. Ferreira follows Christian Pulisic in collecting the team’s second hat trick of 2022 and the 21st in team history.

• Paul Arriola provided his sixth career assist on Ferreira’s second goal and then added his 10th international goal to make it 4-0 in the 62nd minute. Arriola is the 26th USMNT player to hit double-digit goals. 

• Kellyn Acosta recorded his fifth career assist and second of 2022 on Ferreira’s third goal.

• Luca de la Torre recorded his second assist in a U.S. shirt and the first since the 4-1 friendly win against Jamaica on March 25, 2021 in Wiener Neustadt, Austria.

• Brenden Aaronson provided his fifth career assist on Ferreira’s fourth goal in the 78th minute.

• Tonight’s Starting XI had an average age of 25 years, 235 days.

• The USMNT lineup also averaged 27 caps and 15 appearances in official competition.

• Forward Jordan Morris and midfielder Kellyn Acosta made their first appearances of the June window.

• Captaining the side for the third time tonight, Weston McKennie continued as the only player to appear in all seven of the USA’s all-time Concacaf Nations League matches.

• Untested tonight, goalkeeper Matt Turner kept his 13th clean sheet in his 18th career international appearance.

• Center back Cameron Carter-Vickers earned his first cap in official competition.

• The duo of Cameron Carter-Vickers and Aaron Long is the 20th different center back pairing under USMNT head coach Gregg Berhalter.

• Five players with ties to the state of Texas started for the USA tonight. Kellyn Acosta (Plano, Texas), Reggie Cannon (Grapevine, Texas) and Jesús Ferreira (McKinney, Texas) are all products of the FC Dallas Academy that went on to play for the club’s first team. Weston McKennie (Little Elm, Texas) also played for the FC Dallas Academy before signing with German Bundesliga side Schalke in 2016, while forward Paul Arriola joined the club earlier this season.

• With teams limited to dressing 23 players, defender Erik Palmer-Brown (hamstring soreness), midfielder Tyler Adams (coach’s decision) and forward Christian Pulisic (coach’s decision) were not part of the matchday squad.

• The USA moves to 3-0-0 all-time against Grenada, as well as 3-0-0 all-time at Austin’s Q2 Stadium.

 

-U.S. Men’s National Team Match Report-

 

Match: United States Men’s National Team vs. Grenada

Date: June 10, 2022
Competition: Concacaf Nations League

Venue: Q2 Stadium; Austin, Texas

Attendance: 20,500 (Sell-Out)

Kickoff: 9 p.m. local (10 p.m. ET)

Weather: 90 degrees; clear

 

Scoring Summary:   1          2          F         

USA                            1          4          0                     

GRN                            0          0          0         

 

USA – Jesus Ferreira                                                 43^rd minute     

USA – Jesus Ferreira (Paul Arriola)                           54

USA – Jesus Ferreira (Kellyn Acosta)                       56

USA – Paul Arriola (Luca de la Torre)                       62

USA – Jesus Ferreira (Brenden Aaronson)               78

 

Lineups:

USA: 1-Matt Turner; 22-Reggie Cannon, 20-Cameron Carter-Vickers, 15-Aaron Long (3-Walker Zimmerman, 45), 5-Antonee Robinson (16-George Bello, 60); 23-Kellyn Acosta, 8-Weston McKennie (capt.) (17-Malik Tillman, 46), 14-Luca de la Torre (11-Brenden Aaronson, 71); 7-Paul Arriola, 9-Jesús Ferreira, 13-Jordan Morris (10-Cristian Roldan, 60), 

Substitutes not used: 12-Sean Johnson, 18-Ethan Horvath, 2-DeAndre Yedlin, 4-Joe Scally, 6-Yunus Musah, 19-Haji Wright, 21-Tim Weah

Head coach: Gregg Berhalter

 

GRN: 1-Jason Belfon, 5- Kayden Harrack, 7- Romar Frank (13-Steffon Abraham, 71), 8- Alexander McQueen (6-Leon Braveboy, 70), 9- Kharlton Belmar, 11- Shavon John-Brown, 14- Dejon Noel-Williams (23- Jamal Charles, 58), 15- Ashley Charles, 16- AJ Paterson (capt.), 18- Kraig Noel-Mcleod (17-Tyrone Sterling, 50), 20- Jacob Berkeley Agyepong (19- Kwazim Theodore,57),

Substitutes not used: 12- Reice Charles-Cook, 22- Trishawn Thomas, 4-Christian James, 21- Josh Gabriel

Head coach: Michael Findlay

 

Stats Summary: USA / GRN

Shots: 25 / 3

Shots on Goal: 10 / 0

Saves: 0 / 15

Corner Kicks: 7 / 0

Fouls: 13 / 8

Offside: 3 / 2

Misconduct Summary:

GRN – Ashley Charles (Caution)                               23^rd minute                 

 

Officials:

Referee: Said Martinez (HON)

Assistant Referee 1: Walter Lopez (HON)

Assistant Referee 2: Zachari Zeegelaar (SUR)

4th Official: Oliver Vergara (PAN)

Budweiser Man of the Match: Jesús Ferreira